skin wi l l stiffen and crack, and split from top was his: 'The heart that is given must bottom to reveal nothing but dead, be kept.' But quite possibly Prince Otto

metal inside him. He wi l l never work again.' have understood anyway.

'But why didn't you tell me this would hap-i rode to the palace, t inning the prob-

pen?' -m And what a dilemma! To

'You were i n such a hurry that you his he had to sacrifice another human

ask.' What could he do? And whom could he 'Can't you just wind him up?' to make such a great sacrifice?

'Impossible.' he thought of the Baron Stelgratz.

'But what can we do?' said Prince Otto i n Of course! There was no-one better. Baron

rage and despair. 'Is there nothing that can Stelgratz was an old, adviser, a staunch

his life? I must have an heir! The survival f r iend, f a i th fu l , brave, and true. The l i t t l e

Royal Family depends on i t ! ' him, and he and the baron used to

'There is one thing,' said Dr Kalmenius. play for hoars at mock-battles w i t h Prince

is failing because he has no heart. Find h im a['Florian's toy soldiers, and the good old noble-

heart, and he wi l l live. But I don't know man would teach h im how to handle a sword or

you ' l l f ind a heart i n good condition that fire a pistol, and tell him all the animals

owner is will ing to part with. of the forest.

But Prince Otto had left already. He more Prince Otto thought about i t , the

stop to hear the rest of what Dr Kalmenius better a choice i t seemed. Baron Stelgratz would

going to say. That's often the way with leap at the chance to give heart for the

want instant solutions, not difficult f l y . Better not tell h im yet, though; better wait

that take time and care to bring about. What t i l l they were at Dr workshop; then

the great clockwork-maker had been going to he would see the necessity quite clearly.

When Prince Otto arrived back at the palace

he found that the little prince had got worse.

could hardly walk without falling over

and his voice, which had been so full of life

laughter, was becoming more and more like

musical-box; he said very little, but he sang

same few songs over and over. I t was clear

he wouldn't last long.

So Piince Otto went straight to the princess

and persuaded her that a few days' hunting

some brisk exercise in the forest, would do

l i t t le child a power of good. Furthermore,

said, Baron Stelgratz would come too; no

would come to Florian in the baron's

Prince Otto wrapped the little boy up well

and set h im in the sledge wi th

beside him, and off they set.

But on the way through the forest, as dark-

ness was fall ing, the sledge was attacked

wolves.

Maddened by hunger, the great grey beast

poured out of the trees and sprang up

horses. Prince Otto lashed his whip

and the sledge leapt forward, wi th the wolves

T 1 H E ONLY T H I N G TO DO W H E N Y O U ' R E C H A S E D BY W O L V E S I S TO

THROW T H E M S O M E T H I N G TASTY, A N D HOPE Y O U GET A W A Y W H I L E T H E Y

EAT IT. B A R O N S T E L G R A T Z KNOWS T H I S . H E ' S J U S T F I R I N G H I S U S T

B U L L E T . H E K N O W S THAT T O O .

5 7

tearing after. Prince Flor ian sat beside

baron, gr ipping the side of the sledge, am

watched fearfully as the wolf-pack raced

and closer. Baron Stelgratz emptied his rifle a

the pack of leaping, slavering beasts,

deterring them i n the least, and the

bumped and swayed from side to side on

rough track. At any moment they might

and then they would all perish.

'Highness!' cried the baron. 'There is

one thing to do, and I do i t wi th all my

And the good old man threw himself off

sledge. To save his friends, sacrificed

Instantly the wi ld wolves tinned on him

tore h im to pieces, and the sledge drove on

the silent forest, leaving the snarling,

beasts far behind.

And now what could Prince Otto do?

Drive on, was the only answer; drive on!

hope to find some lonely huntsman or

ter, and their family later on.

not a single human being came in to

Behind Prince Otto, the little child, wrapped

furs, was huddled alone on the seal o

he stiffening, growing colder, changing

hack in to machine m i n u t e by m i n u t e .

Occasionally the movement of the sledge would

a little song out of him, but spoke no

they a r r i v e d at the mines of

and the house of the clockwork-

And there was only one solution. Prince Otto

that had to sacrifice himself, and he

was ready. The dynasty was more important

anything else: more important than happi -

ness, Iran love, than t ruth , than peace, than

honour; far more important than his own life.

Prince Otto wou ld give up his heart, cold,

fanatical, and proud as i t was, for the sake of

he future glory of the Royal House.

'You're sure this is what you want?' said

Dr Kalmenius.

'Don't argue with Take out my heart, and

put it in my child's breast! I t doesn't matter i f I

die, as long as the dynasty

The problem now was not the heart, i t was

the return: how could the child drive back on

5 8 5 9

his own? So, for an extra payment , courtyard, the clockwork ticking his

Kalmenius agreed to animate the dead body of*

Prince Otto wi th a small degree of purpose Kalmenius placed the sleeping body of

just enough to drive the sledge back to Florian in the sledge, well wrapped up

palace. * put the whip into the hand

The operation was performed. Prince his father, who began at once to lash

heart was detached from his breast wi th subtle4 lash and lash; and the horses, foaming wi th

instruments, and into the weak terror, began then mad gallop

failing body of the silver boy. Instantly, a And a strange homecoming they had of i t .

flush of health took the place of Prince You might have heard the tale of how the sledge

metallic pallor, his eyes opened, and a drove in at the palace gates, and how the Royal

vigour spread through al l his limbs. He Physician found the clockwork heart. The ser-

" whispered about the dead man whose arm

Dr Kalmenius prepared a wouldn't keep stil l , and rumours and guesses

piece of clockwork apparatus to put i n flew through the palace and the city like shut-

breast of Prince Otto. I t was crude; when it in a loom, weaving a stoiy of corpses and

was wound up, i t would make his body drive to ghosts, of curses and devils, of death and life

the palace. That was al l i t would do. But it and clockwork. But no-one knew the

would do i t for a long, long t ime. I f Prince So time passed. They searched for the baron,

Otto's body had been taken to the other side of they for Pr ince Ot to , Princess

the world , he would have set off at once for Mariposa wept very i n her widow's

home, though the flesh rotted and fell off black, and Prince Florian grew. Five more years

bones, and would never stop unti l many went by, and eveiyone said how handsome the

later, when his skeleton drove the sledge little prince was, how merry and good, how

lucky were to have such a child as the heir

of the family!

But as the winter of the prince's tenth year

i n , the dreaded symptoms returned. Prince

Florian complained of pains in his of a

stiffness i n his arms and legs, of a constant

chill ; and his voice lost its human expressive-

ness and took on the sound of a musi -

cal-box.

Just as before, the Physician was baffled.

'He has mherited disease from his father,'

he said. 'There can be no question about that.'

' B u t w h a t disease is i t ? ' said Princess

Mariposa.

'A congenital weakness of the heart,' said the

physician, sounding as i f he knew. 'Combined

wi th inflammatory oxidosis. But i f you remem-

ber, Your Highness, we cured that last time by

means of healthy exercise in the forest. What

Prince Florian needs is a week the hunting

lodge.'

'But last time he went wi th his father and

Baron Stelgratz, and know what happened

then!'

'Ah , medical science has advanced wonder-

fully in the past five years,' said the physician.

'Have no fear, Your Highness. We shall arrange

a hunting trip for the little prince, and he w i l l

come back wi th health, just as he did

before.'

But i t seemed that the courtiers had less faith

i n the advance of medical science than the

physician, for they all remembered what had

happened last time, and none of them wanted

to risk a journey through the forest, even i f i t

was to save Florian. one had gout,

that one had an urgent appointment i n Venice,

another had to visit his aged grandmother i n

Berl in, and so on, and so on. There was no

of the physician himself going; he was

needed every moment at the palace, in case of

an And Princess Mariposa could not

possibly go, because the winter air was so bad

for her complexion.

Finally, because there was no-one else to do

it , they called up one of the grooms and offered

him ten silver pieces to take little Prince Florian

to the ling lodge.

the man said, because had

heard the story of what had happened before,

and wanted be sure of his money i f anything

went wrong.

So they gave h im the silver in advance, and

the groom tucked Prince Florian into the sledge

and harnessed the horses. Princess Mariposa

waved from the window as they drove away.

When they had gone some way into the for-

est, the groom thought: I don't think this

can last another day; he looks pretty bad to

And i f I go back and tell them he's died, they're

bound to punish me. On the other hand,

ten silver pieces and this sledge I can make my

way over the border and set up in business on

my own account. Buy a little inn, maybe find a

wife and have some children of my own. Yes,

that's what I ' l l do. There's nothing that can save

this l i t t le fellow; I ' m doing h i m a kindness,

really; it's a mercy, that's what i t is.

So he stopped the sledge at a crossroads

put Prince Florian out.

'Go on, ' the groom said, 'go on, you're

your own now, I can't look after you any more.

Have a good brisk walk. Stretch your legs. Off

you go.'

And he drove away.

Prince Florian obediently started to walk. His

legs were and the snow lay thickly on

the road, but he kept going t i l l he turned a bend

and looked down at a little town silent under

the moon, where a bell in a church tower was

midnight.

A light was glowing i n the window of an inn,

and an old black cat watched from the shad-

ows. Prince Florian struggled up to the door

and opened it . Being unable to speak, he polite-

ly began to sing his one remaining song.

6 6

PART T H R E E

i r Ironsoul stopped at once, with a whirr

and a click. His sword was inches from

throat. The prince's song rang out

sweetly through the parlour.

Gre t l cou ld only stare: i n ho r ro r at Sir

I ronsou l and his sword, i n wonder at the

prince.

'Where did you come from?' she said. 'Are

you the little prince i n the stoiy? I think you

must be. But how cold you are! And who is

this? How sharp his sword is! I don't like h im

at all. Oh, what must I do? I feel I ' m supposed

to do something, but I don't know what i t

There was no-one to help. was alone